If only Professor Otto Lidenbrock and his nephew, Axel, were born a century and a half later – their trip to the interior of the earth would have been spared a few mishaps. As it is, National Geographic World Atlas comes at a poignant time: when the news of earthquakes and floods constantly tips all four corners of the globe in the minds of more and more people.

World Atlas allows armchair adventurers to explore the globe in: classic, political, satellite, and antique views. It also makes use of the in-built triangulation and GPS functions.

White Park Bay’s collaborative efforts with Oxford have already brought a slew of Oxford reference titles to the iDevice platform which were reviewed at TMA. This week, they are bolstering their current offerings with 10 more titles, 7 of which were launched this week. In addition, White Park Bay have also upgraded their older app suite with email and note-taking features from the new apps. White Park Bay’s newest releases are below:

Bobble Rep 111th Congress Edition is back in the news, and this time because of a reversal. No, the Republicans didn’t storm the Oval Office and install George Bush’s son as acting governor of the union (got that?). Rather, Apple switched the Windows Vista disallow button off, allowing Bobble Rep 111th Congress Edition to be sold at the App Store. Allegedly, it ridiculed public figures, an act which Apple -a company very much in the public eye- evidently abhor. In TMA’s previous article, I pointed out that there are numerous soundboards (not to mention cartoon figures of many very public people around the world) which should also be removed on the same grounds. Apple received a goodly amount of flack for this boner of a decision.

Thanks to everyone who showed support for the dev and artists involved in getting a creatively democratic app to the App Store. Artist Tom Richmond and RG Entertainment are probably having a laugh now due to heaps more press than they would have had Apple not censored the App. Perhaps this is another ChiFFaN conspiracy?

Reviewing and critiquing movies from as young as 18, Leonard Maltin has had numerous books published as well as an almost 30 year long career on television with Entertainment Weekly. Most recently, his renowned “Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide” has made it onto the iPlatform. Thanks to developers MobileAge, “the 2300 page Godzilla of movie references” is now even more accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

I love wine and simply can’t image my life without a glass of Cabernet after a hard day’s work. And the quality of wine matters so much. At the same time, I don’t earn enough to afford the really good stuff, so I often find myself wandering up and down the wine aisle at my local grocery store, trying to choose a bottle with a reasonable price/quality ratio. Well, MobilAge have provided Wine Enthusiast Guide (WEG) to help me and other poor sods like me.

Look out. Take cover. Run. Not sure if any of that will help though. Maya Calendar comes at the turn of the tide, as we wallow in our lunatic ways, blithely summoning the destruction which wrecked havoc among our mortal friends, the Maya. KeeWee tech, the dev responsible for warning us of the coming cataclysm are responsible for quite a few niche apps which come with suitably niche prices; in all likelihood, the Calendar, which predicts nothing less than another Mayan cataclysmo, is preying on a niche gullibility; nay, a susceptibility to bad news which sits deep within the human soul.

App Description: According to the Mayan calendar, the current Golden Age (the fifth), will end on 21 December 2012. The previous four eras (Water, Air, Fire and Earth) would all end with huge environmental upheavals. According to various researchers, the cataclysms that marked the end of the Mayan Ages were caused by a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field, due to a shift of the planet. Do you want to know how much time is left on this fateful date?

It’s the end of August and summer is coming to an end (sob). Soon, students across the United States and other parts of the world will be sucked back into the thing they dread most: school. But do not despair. With your iPod Touch (or iPhone) in hand, you can download the following applications that could very well make your transition into the school year much more bearable.

Oxford is not only a strong name in language dictionaries; its influence extends heavily into reference titles that can be found online or at your local book shoppe in both hard and paper back editions. UK-based White Park Bay Software (WPB), have brought 11 pivotal references to the App Store. The set includes: Music, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Finance and Banking, Concise Medical, Computing, Chemistry, Business Management, Biology and Accounting. Each shares a similar GUI, navigation and content display system and work consistently with the iPhone design ethic, but at the high price of 14.99$ per app, is the content worth the cost?

Coming across a comic book app is a fairly common sight nowadays at the App Store. You have your individually packaged comic apps like Transformers and Terminator, and then there are those that allow you to upload your very own collection to be enjoyed on the go, like Comicstrips Comic Viewer. But what if you’re into a different kind of cartoon or comic strip? You know, the ones that poke fun of politicians and comment on current world events through often humorous illustrations. If editorial cartoons are your cup of tea then, you’re definitely going to want to check out the soon to be released ToonsWare.

Educational? Inspirational? Baddass? You decide. Developer Kim Chi Studios (yum!) just released the new educational, inspirational, quotation-full, life-changing app: Get Wise ‘r Die Tryin’, a tongue-in-cheek collection of quotations that can be mailed, appended, rated, bookmarked and researched via Wikipedia. Anything else? Yes, you can make your own quotes! If anyone can stand up to giants of wisdom such as Clint Eastwood, it is you, the baddass reader.